In the 18th century, when
new dress regulations were submitted for approval in Spain, they were often
accompanied by illustrations to show just how the uniform was meant to look. Many of these pictures survive and are priceless documents in our understanding of the uniforms, arms and equipment of
Spain’s regular and colonial forces.
Unfortunately, there is no evidence that such a picture was
ever submitted for the new presidial uniforms of 1772. At least, none has yet been found. Perhaps it was a lack of such an illustration
that explains in part why these regulations were interpreted differently at almost
every presidio. As I’ll try to show, other
factors include the regulation’s rather vague wording and the ways in which
presidios acquired their uniforms.[2]
One example of vague wording is that the 1772 regulations
allowed the chupa – their uniform coat – to be made of either wool velvet (tripe)
or cloth (paño). It’s likely then that some presidios had cloth coats while
others, even close neighbors, could have velvet.
The 1772 regulations also state that the chupa should be made,“con una
pequeña vuelta y collarin,” which I translate as “with a small cuff and
collar.” But it’s a bit more complicated
than that.
Today, one of meanings of the Spanish word vuelta is “facing,” which for uniforms means “The cuffs, collar, and
lapels of a military jacket, contrasting in color with the rest of the
garment.”[3] However, this probably wasn’t how the
word vuelta was defined in the 18th
century and not what the regulation’s authors meant.
The Spanish Royal Academy’s 1739 dictionary gives only two
definitions of vuelta that have anything
to do with clothing. The first is “the adornment that is placed over the cuff
of the shirt, that is a wide, folded band of thin linen or lace.” In English, this would be called a “ruffle.” The
other definition has to do with embroidery at the tops of stockings.[4]
But
dictionaries, however exhaustive, can never include all of the ways a word is
understood by the society that speaks and writes it. Since the word vuelta in the 1772 regulations clearly refers to a part of the
chupa and not to a shirt, I believe the authors must have meant the cuff. Both uses would have sleeves in common,
at least. It’s much harder to see how vuelta could be translated here as “facings” because the chupa’s collar (collarin)
is mentioned in the same sentence and this isn't necessary if vuelta meant facings. Collars are part of a uniform’s
facings.
Apparently, the authors of these regulations intended that the soldado
de cueras’ new uniform coats would have small cuffs and a collar, both scarlet,
but not lapels (solapas), another
type of military facing that's not mentioned in the regulations at all. However, that isn’t how they were interpreted on
the frontier.
In August of 1775, Colonel Hugo Oconór,
commandant inspector of presidios on New Spain’s northern frontier, examined
the soldiers’ uniforms at Tubac Presidio, in what is now Arizona, and was not
pleased. In his report, Oconór writes that he ordered replacement
clothing for the presidio in words that are almost identical to those of the
1772 regulations except for the addition of lapels. The soldiers were to wear “una chupa corta de tripe ó paño azul con una
pequeña vuelta, solapa y collarin
encarnado” – a short, sleeved waistcoat of blue wool velvet or wool cloth with a small scarlet cuff, lapel and collar.
Here, at least, vuelta clearly
does not mean “facing.”[5]
But it gets more complicated still. Two years later, in 1777, Colonel Oconór
issued a report compiling the results of all his presidio inspections. In it, he states proudly that, as a result of
his efforts, “The
clothing that is used by that troop [i.e., the presidial cavalry] is uniform in
all the provinces, and consists of a short, sleeved waistcoat of blue wool
velvet or wool cloth, with a small scarlet cuff and collar . . .” Oconór omits any mention of lapels and
repeats this description in two other places in his report. Clearly, he’s just copying the official
uniform description from the regulations and not giving us the details of how
these soldiers actually dressed.[6]
With such inconsistent evidence, it’s probably
safest to assume that some presidios used coats with lapels, some didn’t, and
that the only times we can be certain are when the use or non-use of lapels is specified
by an eyewitness account. For example, a
1779 report for the Presidio of San Antonio de Bexar in Texas lists all of the
materials needed, and their costs, to fully dress and equip a soldier of that
unit. From this we know that every chupa
at that outpost was to have a collar, lapels and cuffs made of second-quality
scarlet cloth.[7] On the other hand, in 1794 an order by the
military governor of California stated that it was his understanding of the
royal regulations that all chupas for sergeants, corporals and soldiers should be
issued “with scarlet cuffs and collars only . . . omit the lapels.” We know that this order was obeyed because in
March 1795 the Presidio of Santa Barbara ordered from Mexico, “60 regulation
chupas, without lapels, made of blue wool cloth from Puruagua, with cuffs and
collar of second-quality scarlet wool cloth . . .” [8]
The
fact is, there could never have been at any time an identical pattern uniform
issued to every presidio on the frontier. This is because there just wasn’t a standardized
or “sealed" pattern for these uniforms to follow and no central manufacturer or
source of supply.
After
the issue of the 1772 regulations, the presidos experimented with different
systems for acquiring their uniforms, equipment and other supplies. Mostly these
varied between sending a purchasing officer, called a habiltado, to Mexico with what amounted to a shopping list or else contracting
with Mexican merchants annually to acquire and ship to the presidios what was
needed. Also, we know that sometimes a
presidio would order uniforms readymade from a contractor in Mexico, usually in
a few standard sizes which were then tailored to individuals at the
presidio. At other times, the uniforms
were made at or near the presidio from materials purchased in Mexico.[9]
The
result of all these variations is that while all of the soldiers’ uniforms at
any given presidio would more or less match one another, they must have looked
noticeably different from those at other presidios. Though all of them would have blue chupas
with scarlet collars and cuffs, at some presidios they would be made of wool velvet while
at others they were of wool cloth. The
shade of blue would vary from site to site and so would the weave and quality
of the cloth. At different times and
places, soldiers’ chupas had lapels or didn’t.
The shape of the collar, lapels and cuffs; how the chupa was lined and
with what; the number, placement, shape, and type of buttons would all differ from one
presidio to another and over time. And,
of course, these differences would also extend to other parts of the uniform
and equipment, including the breeches, waistcoats, capes, hats, leggings, sword
belts and cartridge carriers, not to mention horse gear.
This is why I believe it’s important for artists, writers, film makers and
historical reenactors who portray these frontier soldiers not to assume that
there was one “generic” type of soldado de cuera uniform that was the same
everywhere on the frontier and over long periods of time. Instead, I suggest that we all need to dig deeper into the visual, written and archaeological sources to discover and reproduce as much as possible what was actually worn at a particular site during a definite era.
Illustrations
A.
“Uniforme del Regimiento de la Corona, Nueva España,” 1769. Archivo General de las Indias, Madrid. Copy in the Anne S.K. Brown Military
Collection, Brown University Library, Providence, Rhode Island.
B.
“Proposed uniform for a Havana infantry regiment to be raised by Don José
Fleming, 1787.” Archivo General de las
Indias, Madrid. Copy in the Anne S.K.
Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library, Providence, Rhode Island.
C. Detail from, “Uniforme de Soldado de Lanceros de Veracruz,” 1769. Archivo General de las Indias, Madrid. Copy in the Anne S.K. Brown Military
Collection, Brown University Library, Providence, Rhode Island. Note that this is the longer chupa, not the
shorter one prescribed by the 1772 regulations.
Because of the longer skirts, it even has small turnbacks at the tails. This chupa also does not have lapels.
D.
Detail of a uniform proposal for the Regimiento Provincial de
Caballeria del Principe, c. 1771-1779. Real Academia de Historia, Madrid.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the authors of the Royal
Regulations of 1771 probably had something much like this uniform and equipment
in mind for the soldados de cuera, though without the lapels.
E.
1767
Map of San Ignacio de Tubac by José de Urrutia, from the Tumacacori National Historical Park website: http://www.nps.gov/tuma/historyculture/san-ignacio-de-tubac.htm. Original in the British Library, London.
F.
Since the sleeved waistcoat known as the chupa
belonged to an international style of tailoring, it's possible to compare images
of Spanish uniforms with reconstructions of similar garments from other
countries. I believe that the chupa may
have been cut something like this 1775 Massachusetts bounty coat though, as I’ve tried to show, there would have
been variations. Notice the similarities between it and the chupas worn in fig.
C by the Lancero de Veracruz and by the Provincial cavalryman in fig. D. Illustration from, “The Massachussets Bounty
Coat of 1775,” by Henry Cooke IV, republished on the Arnold Expedition Historical
Society website: http://arnoldsmarch.com/Bounty%20Coats.pdf
G.
Archaeolical finds at presidio sites can be used to help recreate the
particular uniforms worn at that site.
Seen here, a brass button recovered during an archaeological dig at Santa
Barbara Presidio, California. Courtesy of Santa Barbara Trust for Historic
Preservation. See also some of the
various shapes and sizes of Spanish military buttons available during this era
at the website Military Artifacts from Spanish Colonial Florida and Louisiana, 1539-1821: http://www.artifacts.org/Early%20Buttons.htm
H.
There was no “generic” soldado uniform.
Rather, each presidio’s interpretation of the 1772 regulations would
have been somewhat different and also would have changed over time. This is why, when portraying a soldado de
cuera in art, words or as a reenactor, we must research the uniforms and
equipment used at a particular site and during a specified era. This is my interpretation of late-18th
to early-19th century soldados de cuera from California and Texas
based on eyewitness pictures, descriptions and archaeology. From, René Chartrand and David Rickman,
“Leather Jacket Soldiers: The Cuera Cavalry of the American South-West,” Military Illusrated, Past and Present,
54 (November 1992).
Notes
[2] The original regulation reads:
“The clothing of the soldiers of the
presidio will be the same for all, and consist of a
short, sleeved waiscoat of blue wool
velvet or cloth, with a small scarlet cuff and collar. . .”
[El
vestuario de los soldados de presidio ha de ser uniforme en todos, y constará
de una chupa corta de tripe, ó paño azul, con una pequeña vuelta y collarin
encarnado. . .]. Sidney Brinckerhoff and
Odie B. Faulk, Lancers for the King; A Study of
the Frontier Military System of Northern New Spain, with a Translation of the Royal Regulations of 1772
(Phoenix: Arizona Historical Society,1965), 18.
[4] [E]l adorno, que se sobrepone al puño de las camisas, que
es una tira plegada, y ancha de lienzo delgado, ó encaxes ]. The Spanish
Royal Academy dictionaries I cite may be found online at Nuevo Testoro
Lexicográfico de la Lengua Española: http://ntlle.rae.es/ntlle/SrvltGUILoginNtlle
[5] Hugo Oconór, "Carta
Expedida de resulta de la revista al S.or Comandante del Presidio de Tubac, No.
13. Presidio de Tubac.” Aug. 16, 1775. Archivo General
de las Inidas, Guadalajara, 515. Bancroft
Library
microfilm. I am indebted to the
late Don Garate, National Park Service, for sending me a copy of this document.
[6] “El vestuario de que usa aquella Tropa es uniforme en todas
las Provincias, y consista de una chupa corta de Tripe, ó Paño azul con una
pequeña buelta, y collarin encarnado . . .” Hugo Oconór and Donald C. Cutter. The
Defenses of
Northern New Spain: Hugo O'Conor's Report to Teodoro de Croix, July 22, 1777 (Dallas: DeGolyer Library, 1994), iii,
v, 54
[7]
“Companía de
Caballería del Real Presidio de San Antonio de Bexar. Numero 24. Papel de
Puntos Deducidos de la Revista . . . 1779,” ms. Archivo General de las Indias,
Guadalajara, 283. I am indebted to my friend, the noted military historian René Chartrand, for
sending me a copy of this document.
[8] Letter from Arguello to Borica, “Concerning the uniforms of the troopers, 17 December 1794,” ms., Bancroft Library, California Archives 7, Tomo XII, 143; “Requisition: Santa Barbara, March 7, 1795,” in Giorgio Perissinotto, ed., et al, Documenting Everyday Life in Early Spanish California; The Santa Barbara Presidio Memorias y Facturas, 1779-1810, (Santa Barbara, California: Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, 1998), 244. Note, my translation differs slightly from the one given in this book.
[8] Letter from Arguello to Borica, “Concerning the uniforms of the troopers, 17 December 1794,” ms., Bancroft Library, California Archives 7, Tomo XII, 143; “Requisition: Santa Barbara, March 7, 1795,” in Giorgio Perissinotto, ed., et al, Documenting Everyday Life in Early Spanish California; The Santa Barbara Presidio Memorias y Facturas, 1779-1810, (Santa Barbara, California: Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, 1998), 244. Note, my translation differs slightly from the one given in this book.
[9]
Moorhead, Max L. "The Private Contract System of Presidio
Supply in Northern New Spain." The Hispanic American Historical Review
41, no. 1 (1961): 31-54.
Salve David <
ReplyDeleteVery interesting chain of articles on the Royal Regulations and reality of the Provincias Internas! Nota bene great blog - I greatly admire your work, the presidial troops et al -
pozdrawiam/saludos
Great article, I have some of these illustrations but without the source on some, thanks!
ReplyDeleteglad to find this.
ReplyDeleteI've designed a very expensive unit using your coloring book, high school esl, s.f., ca
never knew you were Australian! thanks for attention to visual detail and accuracy.